


Consulting in Space and Time

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe, Multi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-01-21 04:40:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1537922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A strange blue box turns up on the corner of Baker Street and John Watson is more than a little intrigued by it. Sherlock is more interested in it's wacky inhabitants. What will happen when two unlikely duos join forces to go on crazy mystery-solving, alien-destroying, death-defying adventures in space and time? How will the lives of these extraordinary individuals change as their crazy worlds are thrown together? And just how confusing will it be to have two doctors in the TARDIS? Read to discover the answer to all these questions and more!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Blue Box in Baker Street

It was John that first pointed out the peculiar blue box on the corner of Baker Street. Sherlock, for once, was oblivious to it, perhaps because it seemingly had no importance. Nevertheless, to John, it was highly unusual. Police telephone boxes disappeared years ago, John thought. Needless to say, it was a strange addition to this fairly ordinary street. However, it was sometime before either John or Sherlock realised how this funny blue box would come to play a huge role in their lives, along with its inhabitants.

Sherlock hadn’t left the flat for at least two weeks. He carried out endless experiments on body parts brought by Molly Hooper from the morgue. John had listed case after case, but Sherlock showed no interest in any of them. Some days he didn’t even bother to change out of his pyjamas and just moped around the flat, neglecting his personal hygiene.

John had to get him out. After lots of coaxing, he eventually agreed to walk a few yards to Speedy’s cafe for a coffee. Their usual table was taken, which annoyed Sherlock. Not only had they taken their table, these new customers were also being unbearable irritating. Couldn’t they stop grinning at each other for one moment? He began to play a little game of deductions in his head. The girl was fairly ordinary; around nineteen years old, local London girl, just returned from travels, although he couldn’t pinpoint where. The man sitting opposite her was much harder to work out. There was something distinct about him, something different and hard to identify. Soon, he found himself drifting off in the man’s face, just trying to work something out. John had to snap his fingers in Sherlock’s face to get his attention.  
   ‘Sherlock, you know it’s rude to stare.’ John scolded as Sherlock switched his attention back to the couple. Sherlock said nothing.

Speedy’s was soon deserted and the mugs of the two men were empty. As the light began to soften, the sun sinking behind the great concrete buildings, they rose to leave and thanked the man behind the counter as they left. The door closed behind them and they stood out in the cold air. John looked over at the strange blue box and saw that somebody was entering it. The girl from the cafe.   
   ‘Look, Sherlock. That’s the girl you were looking at in the cafe. She just stepped inside that strange police box.’ John said, pointing at her with one hand and tugging Sherlock’s sleeve with the other.   
   ‘Oh, I wasn’t looking at her. No, I was trying to deduce something about her companion, he was difficult to read.’   
   ‘Funny couple, eh? Seemed a bit... eccentric.’   
   ‘That would be putting it lightly.’  
   ‘Maybe we should go and talk to her? And if you’re so interested in that boyfriend of hers –’   
   ‘He was just difficult to read, that’s all. Who said I was interested?’   
   ‘Let’s go and look anyway.’   
   ‘Fine.’

They began to walk briskly towards the blue box. The girl had already slipped inside so they couldn’t call out to her. Just as they were approaching, a strange whirring, moaning sound rang out through the street. At first, John couldn’t believe his eyes. The blue box began to disappear, right in front of their very eyes. Then it was gone.   
   ‘Sherlock? What just happened?’ John asked, completely bewildered. Sherlock gave no reply, as he didn’t have any reply to give. For once in his life, he couldn’t conjure a single, rational explanation to the sudden dematerialisation of this strange blue box. He looked left and right, as if it would reappear as suddenly as it had vanished.

The indescribable noise; they heard it again. And there it was, in the same place that it had stood before. John reached out to feel one of the wooden panels. But, before his hand could touch the blue wood, the door flew open and there stood the man from the cafe, his brown hair standing on end, his eyes widened and his mouth open in a grin.   
   ‘Hello there!’ He exclaimed, sounding almost manic in his excitement. ‘Who are you two then, eh?’   
   John swallowed and inhaled deeply. ‘I’m John Watson and this is Sherlock Holmes,’ he said quickly, gesturing to Sherlock who had an expression of befuddlement locked on his face.   
   ‘Nice to meet you then, John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. I’m the Doctor.’ The man said in a rush, as if he were overly eager to spill out his words.   
   ‘You’re a doctor?’   
   ‘Yup, I’m the Doctor.’ The man replied, nearly repeating himself. John reached out his and the man shook it enthusiastically.   
   ‘So, Doctor... who? I might have heard of you. I’m a doctor too, you see. Army doctor, I served in Afghanistan.’ John asked casually.   
   ‘He doesn’t have another name.’ Sherlock piped up suddenly. The Doctor’s eyes widened further, almost popping out of their sockets.   
   ‘He’s good!’ He grinned, elongating the end of his second word, nodding his head slightly. ‘Very clever, aren’t you? Most people don’t seem to get the whole _“It’s just the Doctor”_ thing. For some reason you humans are obsessed with surnames.’   
   John must have misheard him. Why did you he say _“you humans?”_

He turned his head and called over his shoulder. ‘Rose! Come and meet John and Sherlock!’   
   The blonde girl came up bouncing up behind him and craned her neck to look over his shoulder. She opened her mouth in a smile, showing all of her white teeth. ‘What do you think about them, Doctor?’ She asked into his ear.  
   ‘John’s a doctor and Sherlock seems pretty sharp to me.’ The Doctor replied, turning his head to smile straight at her.   
   ‘Shall we let them in?’   
   ‘Only if they want to come in.’ The Doctor turned back to John and Sherlock, who were still standing out on the pavement. ‘So, John the Doctor and Sherlock the Genius, how do you feel about travelling in space?’   
   ‘Space?’   
   ‘And time.’ The Doctor added casually. John and Sherlock looked at each other, and then back at the Doctor and Rose. Sherlock’s mind was buzzing with questions.   
   ‘How would we even fit in there? Isn’t a bit cramped with just you and Rose?’ John queried.   
   ‘Why don’t you come in and look then?’ the Doctor said, raising his eyebrows and opening the door wider. John hesitantly took a step inside and Sherlock followed straight behind him. The sight inside was a spectacle to behold. Beams bending and twisting, working their way up the curved walls; lights blinking and reflecting off various gleaming surfaces, giving the room a mysterious yellow glow. John wandered slowly across the metal grid flooring, gazing at the strange control station in front of him. Everything seemed to buzz, to give off electricity or at least something similar. Nothing about the place felt quite real. Sherlock and John merely stood, completely awestruck. They had seen some incredible and almost unbelievable things in their time together, but nothing came close to this.   
   ‘It’s bigger on the inside. How does that work?’ Sherlock asked curiously, running his hand over one of the walls.   
   ‘Time Lord technology. Very... useful.’ The Doctor said, preoccupied with his controls, jabbing buttons and flicking switches.   
   ‘Time Lord?’ Sherlock persisted.   
   ‘That’s what I am. The last one. Last of the Time Lords.’   
   ‘And you can travel in space?’   
   ‘And time.’   
   ‘And you want us to come with you?’   
   ‘Do you want to come?’   
    Sherlock didn’t even have to contemplate his answer.  
 


	2. The Gentlemen and Lady of Old London Town // Adventure 1 // Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and Rose, along with their new Baker Street companion, land in the London of the 1880s. It soon becomes clear that all is not well when they discover the series of mysterious disappearances.

The TARDIS lands with a jolt, sending the two new travelling companions tumbling to the floor. The Doctor and Rose had prepared and found something to grip onto and managed to stay standing. Sherlock and John get to their feet, wiping down their shirts grumpily, John rubbing his lower back, his face crumpled up with discomfort. After all, unexpectedly landing on your backside is hardly the most enjoyable of experiences. The Doctor and Rose laugh at them, loudly and hysterically.

‘I told you it would be a bumpy ride.’ The Doctor says, leaning against the door of the TARDIS. ‘Now, if I’m right, we should in...’ – he swings open the door – ‘ah! Victorian London!’

Rose and the Doctor seem perfectly comfortable stepping out into this unusual world they had just landed in, unfazed by the roar of the carriages rushing past them and the clamour of the people that bustled and hurried around in the packed street. The colours here seemed slightly muted – an abundance of brown suited men and ladies tripping about in ankle-length dresses in pale shades of pink and purple. Nearly every head was topped with a cap or bonnet, casting shadows across already darkened faces.

‘London! 1880s, if I’m not wrong.’ The Doctor announces, peering out of the alley in which the TARDIS was parked to stare at the main street before them. ‘Now, my lady,’ he said linking arms with Rose, who giggled as he did so, ‘where are we off to?’

‘Hmm,’ she pondered, ‘why don’t we ask John and Sherlock?’

‘Where are we anyway?’ John asked.

‘Baker Street.’ Sherlock remarked casually. ‘Baker Street in the 1880s, according to him,’ he added, gesturing towards the Doctor.

The Doctor grinned at Sherlock and said ‘you really are clever, aren’t you?’ Sherlock replied with nothing but a look of exasperation. He was here to advance his knowledge and understanding of the world – nobody said that he needed to befriend this madman, who was now striding down Victorian Baker Street with his female companion hanging onto his arm. Somehow, they seemed to blend seamlessly into this old world, as if nobody really noticed them in their foreign clothing. However, Sherlock did notice a few brows rise at Rose in her tight fitting jeans that hugged her thin legs. She should just be grateful that she hadn’t worn shorts or a skirt – Sherlock thought – bare legs would most certainly be unsuitable around here. Besides, it was much too cold.

At first they didn’t walk together. Sherlock and John walked a little way behind and the Doctor kept turning his neck to see that they were still there. He couldn’t lose them in a time that wasn’t their own.

The pavement started to clear, the waves of people flooding out in different streets. The morning was bright and the air sharp – weather for a coat but not excessive layers of jumpers. Sherlock and John had now caught up with their companions, and John started to strike up a conversation with Rose, while the Doctor and Sherlock eyed each other up, as if they were both trying to play a silent game of deductions with one another. Sherlock was certainly the more serious of the two, with a strong, steady stride, his coat flying out behind him. The Doctor seemed to bounce a little more as he stepped, as if he were walking to a rhythm.

Without warning, a young man, perhaps in his early twenties, crashed into the Doctor, who fell to the ground. The man apologised profusely, begging his forgiveness, biting his bottom lip as he offered the Doctor his hand to help him up.

‘No harm done,’ the Doctor said cheerily, pushing back his hair so that it was wilder than ever. The man smiled and thanked him.

‘Not everybody would be as calm about it as you, sir. Goodness knows the sort of person I may have run into!’ He said, laughing a little.

Sherlock was looking him up and down and said, ‘Studying to be a doctor and an aspiring writer, it would seem.’

The man looked a little taken back. ‘Well, I haven’t had any great literary successes, but I’m just waiting for the right idea, I suppose.’ He paused. ‘How did you know that, if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Simple really –’ Sherlock began, but the Doctor cut him off.

‘Sherlock Holmes is terribly smart.’ He said, pointing to Sherlock.

‘Sherlock. That’s an unusual name,’ the young man commented, looking straight at Sherlock. Scottish, Sherlock thought. He was well-presented with soft brown hair that was neatly brushed, with barely a hair out of place, looking more like a cap than hair. He had a rather full moustache for one who looked so young in years; a manly feature on a boyish face. He wore a drab grey waistcoat and a faded white shirt, the sleeves of which were slightly longer than those of his navy jacket. He still looked flustered after the incident, but was now smiling.

‘It’s a family name. ’ Sherlock replied.

‘I’m Arthur.’ The young man said, reaching his hand out to take Sherlock’s, but when Sherlock didn’t respond, the Doctor shook it instead. ‘I’m the Doctor and this is Rose. Oh, and that’s Dr John Watson.’

‘So, if you’re both doctors, how should I address you?’ Arthur asked.

‘Just call me John.’ John said; shaking Arthur’s hand as the Doctor had.

‘What about you?’ Arthur said, directing his speech back to the Doctor. ‘Do you not have a full name?’

‘Nope. Just the Doctor.’ ‘

But Doctor _Who_?’

‘Just leave it, okay, Arty? I didn’t really get it at first, but that really is just his name.’ Rose explained, putting one hand on Arthur’s shoulder, patting him gently.

‘Your clothing, I have never seen anything like it.’ Arthur marvelled, addressing them all. ‘These materials and these colours; quite extraordinary!’ he went on, tugging lightly on the sleeve of Rose’s bright blue jacket.

‘What are you doing in London?’ Sherlock asked abruptly.

Arthur was still fascinating over Rose’s outfit, but replied, ‘just visiting, a short break from my studies.’

‘Going anywhere in particular?’ the Doctor said in a friendly tone.

‘Oh, just here and there. But you’ve got to be careful around here, don’t you? To be honest, I was a little uncomfortable with coming alone. I’ve tried to stay in busy places.’

‘Why is that then?’ The Doctor asked, his voice turning solemn and concerned.

‘You don’t know about the disappearances? People just vanishing in London. I read about it in the paper. There was this one man that went to a public lavatory and never returned. And there was a little girl who vanished right in her own home. Her father is offering up a small fortune as a reward for finding her.’ Arthur explained, his expression a mix of worry and a little excitement, as if the situation both repelled and intrigued him.

The posters on the lampposts suddenly became obvious.

* * *

‘ **MISSING** – JOHN BROWN, 48. LAST SEEN IN HYDE PARK, 29th FEBRUARY. REWARD £100.’

‘HAVE YOU SEEN **ROBERT STANNING**? VANISHED FROM HOME 4th MARCH. PLEASE REPORT TO THE POLICE FOR REWARD’

‘ **MISSING PERSON** – JOAN WITHERS. HUGE REWARD.’

* * *

‘Something’s not right here. Not right at all.’ The Doctor muttered.


	3. Every 6th Lady // Adventure 1 // Part 2

This world had taken a rather sinister turn for the worse. The Doctor warned that they must all stay together and that nobody should go wandering off alone. And so they walked, side by side, through the lively streets of London, each of them tense and on their guard. Arthur led; he knew this place better than the others. Sherlock, John and Rose knew modern London, but this felt like a completely different place. However, they shared features; the Thames River, the Houses of Parliament and the mighty Big Ben clock tower, which tolled at midday.

***

Arthur was fascinated by almost every word uttered by the travellers. John or Sherlock would occasionally make a remark about London, noting the absence of certain buildings present in their time or complimenting the rather more beautiful Victorian houses and offices that stood in the place of the great glass structures that made up their London. The Doctor and Rose spoke of places and times even further away than the 21st century city. They used strange words that Arthur didn’t understand, but that he wanted to know more about. These people seemed well-travelled, foreign and quite remarkable.

After a long stroll around the streets, they entered a large park, full of families. However, these families were of a certain type; neatly presented children, in clean white clothing, the girls in pretty petticoats and dainty shoes and the young boys in outfits that almost matched those of their fathers, with waistcoats and braces and breeches, only much smaller. Woman in dark dresses embellished with white lace pushed large perambulators, the babies inside cradled in a beds of soft clean blankets, some with a small silver rattle or china-faced doll tucked beside them. These people had no destination or agenda; this was a place in which they spent their leisure time, mingling with other members of high society.

Rose spotted a group of people standing outside a small one-story brick building, waiting in an orderly queue. Some were leaving and as they did, another person would be admitted inside.

‘Are they toilets over there?’ Rose asked.

‘Yes,’ Arthur answered, as if it were obvious to even the most ignorant person. ‘Public ones, you’ll have to pay.’

‘How much? Now that I think about it, I think I need to go.’

‘A penny. Here,’ Arthur reached into his pocket, pulled out a large coin and pressed it into Rose’s palm.

‘I’m coming with you,’ the Doctor said firmly.

Rose laughed at him. ‘No you’re not, thank you very much! You can’t come into the women’s toilets. And do you see any other girls in our little party?’ she looked around and the four men accompanying her. ‘I’ll be just fine. It’ll only take a minute.’ She reassured him. He hesitated for a moment then gestured with his head and she walked off to join the queue.

‘She’ll be okay, you know,’ John said, ‘after all, what’s the worst that could happen?’

‘Do you really want me to answer that question?’ the Doctor replied a little stiffly, still looking at the back of Rose’s blonde head. ‘I’ve put her in danger one too many times and I’m not doing that today.’

‘When did you meet?’ John asked, trying to take the conversation in a more positive direction.

‘A while ago. I was... different then.’ He said airily, drifting off a little. He snapped back. ‘What about you then? Been dating long?’

John looked taken aback. Sherlock remained expressionless. ‘Oh no, you’ve got it wrong. We’re not a couple.’ John protested.

‘Well, if you say so.’ The Doctor said with a smirk. John rolled his eyes with irritation.

They saw Rose vanish inside. They waited five minutes. They waited ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Half an hour.

‘Doctor?’ Arthur said worriedly. The Doctor didn’t reply.

‘Doctor?’ John echoed. ‘Surely she’s been too long.’

‘There are other women. Others that haven’t come out. I’ve counted every sixth woman after Rose.’ Sherlock stated. ‘Arthur, you don’t happen to know how many toilets there in there, do you?’

‘Well, I can’t say I’ve ever been in the ladies’ toilets, but I’m certain there were six for the men.’ Arthur replied.

‘ _Rose!_ ’ the Doctor yelled, his eyes widening with panic and anger. ‘ _ROSE!_ ’


	4. The Nest of the Aranemam // Adventure 1 // Part 3

‘She’s gone! They’ve taken her!’ the Doctor yelled as they raced back across the park.

‘Who?’ John and Arthur chorused.

‘The Aranemam. Great awful spidery things, they extract waves of energy and feed on it. And I think human brain waves are on the menu,’ the Doctor explained quickly. He was striding so quickly and powerfully that his long coat rippled behind him like a flag in the wind. ‘They’ve been using the piping connected to that particular toilet and probably dozens of others around the city. They can shift their shape, so getting through those pipes would be no problem for them.  Easy to move about in the sewers without anybody noticing them. That’s where they’re hiding.’

And that is how they found themselves in the dark, damp depths of the London sewers. Nobody held back; they desperately wanted to find Rose and, secretly, they all hungered for the adventure.

They waded through the thick, black sewage, looking on into the darkness. Their only source of light was the blue glow of the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, which he held out in front of his face, moving his arm left and right, searching for any sign of moment. Not a word was uttered; the only sound they could hear was the splashing of water as it dripped down the slippery walls.

Sherlock was the first to pick up on the low hissing sound. It became louder and louder until they all became aware of it. They turned into a new tunnel which was suddenly lit with an eerie red glow. They stopped. The Doctor lowered his screwdriver. The hissing became louder still and the light much brighter. Something came into view at the end of the tunnel. It was creature unlike anything Sherlock or John or Arthur had seen before - completely alien. Eight sharply defined black legs sprouted from its fleshy body, which had the look of an uncooked piece of meat; fleshy and slippery and red and bulging. A thousand deadly eyes glared at them and the pincers of the creature snapped with rage. Its body rose and fell as it hissed; a deep monstrous hissing, more powerful and far more frightening than that of any snake. However, perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this creature physically was the skin at the top of its head. The flesh was completely transparent - a window looking into the creature’s body. Inside was a young child, her eyes closed, her skin ghostly white and her lips tainted blue.

‘Who... are... you?’ The monster released a deep throaty roar that sent a shiver down John’s spine.

‘I’m the Doctor. I want my friend back,’ the Doctor demanded, undaunted by the creature.

‘Friend?’ the spider creature hissed. ‘What... issss... friend?’

‘My friend. Rose Tyler. You took her and I want her back.’

‘Sheee issss... gone. We feedssss... on the humansss. She issss... dead!’

‘No she isn’t,’ the Doctor said confidently. ‘You couldn’t suck up all the brain waves of a person in a couple of hours! No, she’ll be making new ones, replacing the ones you’ve taken for at least a few days. Rose is definitely alive and I want to know where she is.’

The spider rose up, waving its front legs in the air. ‘You know... about ussssss! Our kind! Doctaaaaa... you know ussssssss.’

‘Tell me, what are the Aranemam doing on Earth? What’s wrong with your own planet, eh?’

‘Our planet... issss dying. The wavesss are... failing and we mussst feeeeed, Doctaaaa.’ The hissing became more intense. ‘The waavess on our planet are fading. We feeed on the wavess that our planet omitsss. Now... there are no more wavessss. These humansss... they have brain wavesss to sspaare!’

‘No, I’m afraid you can’t have their waves. Their waves belong to them and you can’t feed off every human on this planet and then hop along to the next planet and steal all the waves there, too. Nope, you can’t do that. And I’m going to stop you!’ the Doctor shone the light of his screwdriver straight into the monster’s eyes and it screeched with pain.

‘Run!’ he yelled. And so they ran, leaving the flailing agonized creature behind them.

‘What did you do?’ John panted.

‘Blue light. They can’t stand it. The colour doesn’t exist on their planet. That’s probably why they’re down here in the first place. Too much blue up there!’ the Doctor exclaimed, running faster.

They could see the same red light, but it was brighter this time. Much brighter. The tunnel widened and they could finally see the source of the red light - hundreds of Aranemam, hanging from the ceiling, griping to the slippery walls, crawling everywhere, hissing and screeching to one another, pincers clicking, legs scuttling across stone. Upon their entrance, a thousand glaring eyes were set upon the four of them and the volume of the creatures began to rise. Unfazed, the Doctor began to pace slowly towards the centre of the nest the Aranemam had created for themselves – a huge pile of wood and huge chunks of metal, bound together with something that resembled spider’s silk, but black and much thicker. Sherlock and John exchanged a quick glance, nodding and following the Doctor, Arthur on their heels.

The Doctor looked up at the creature sitting atop the pile of rubbish. The leader of the Aranemam – larger and far more impressive than any of the others. But the Doctor did not stare into the eyes of the lurid creature. He was gazing at the person inside the creature’s fleshy body. Rose.

“Who are yoooou?” the leader demanded, casting its many eyes down onto the intruders below. “Kill them!”

Quickly they were surrounded, pincers snapping threateningly at their throats. The Doctor held up his hands. “We come peacefully! We don’t not wish to harm any of your species!” he called out, looking imploringly at the leader above. “Please, all I’m asking is for you to stop this. These people, humans,” he gestured at Sherlock and John and Arthur, “they are amazing. They really are. And if you suck out all their brainwaves then it would be such a waste! A fantastic waste of all the beautiful things they have in their heads.  I can help you. There are uninhabited planets out there that omit powerful waves that you can have, you wouldn’t be harming anybody. Please, I can help you.”

The leader paused and the other Aranemam stopped advancing towards them. Everything was still for a moment. “If you can find usssss a new planet, Doctaaaar, we will leeeave the resssst of the humansss alone.”

“What about the people you’re using now? The ones you’re feeding from? That’s my friend,” he pointed at Rose, “I want her back.”

“Ssshe is necesssssary for my sssurvial. Ssshe hasss the mossst powerful wavesss. Sssshe hasss been to placesss far beyond her world. Her knowledge issss sssso powerful!”

“Please, just give to me. I promise I can find you a new planet and you won’t need her anymore. I promise!”

The leader paused for a moment and the room fell silent. The great spider crawled its way down the great heap of scrap and stood before the four men, looming above them. It reared up and its stomach began to glow. Rose slipped out from the flesh and landed on the floor, motionless but breathing. The Doctor was the first to race to her, John not far behind him. John checked her pulse while the Doctor tried to stir her. Her eyelids fluttered open. The Doctor grinned at her and she smiled back wearily.

“Doctor? Where am I? And... What is this stuff?” she mumbled, running her fingers through a strand of her slimy hair. Her whole body was covered in a thick liquid from the insides of the Aranemam and it was quite disgusting.

“You’re okay now, Rose. I’ve got you,” the Doctor reassured her, lifting her to her feet with help from John. They moved back towards Sherlock and Arthur.

“Doctaaaar, we mussst hurry! I will die if I do not get wavesss!” the leader hissed, creeping slowly towards them.

“Yes, but first release the others. All the other humans you are using here. Let them go,” the Doctor demanded, his arm around Rose now.

“Give usss our planet, Doctaaaar! You promissssed usss!”

“Release them!”

“I sssshan’t!”

“If you won’t give ussss our planet, I will take you insssstead!”

The creature darted towards the Doctor, pincers snapping, rearing up with legs waving in the air. Arthur pushed past Sherlock and leapt in front the Doctor, a look of painful determination on his face. He cried out as one of the pincers dug into his side and blood began to stain his shirt. He fell to the floor, motionless. John didn’t take a moment to hesistate. He pulled out the gun that he’d concealed in his pocket.

“No!” the Doctor yelled, but John had already pulled the trigger. The leader of the Aranemam screeched with agony before collapsing on the ground. The other spiders began to panic, fleeing down tunnels, screaming and hissing as they ran. They found themselves alone, with just the dead leader left on the ground and Arthur beside it. He let out a small moan and the others rushed to him.

“Arthur? Oh God, we’ve got to stop the blood loss. We have to...” John began, but he knew that it was too late.

“Doctor Watson,” Arthur murmured, his eyes just shut “and Mr Holmes and beautiful Rose and the Doctor. You have given me such an adventure. I could never dream of experiencing anything as thrilling as this. Thank you. And I know that, if I were not to die here and now, I would have written stories of you. You are...” his last breath came too soon to finish his sentence. His eyes closed and his body became lifeless.

“He was so brave,” the Doctor whispered, looking down at the young man’s face, “and so brilliant.”

Sherlock noticed that Arthur’s pocket watch had been displaced and was now on the floor next to his body. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the initials carved in the back.

“ACD,” read John, looking down at the watch in Sherlock hands. “I suppose we’ll never know what that stands for now.”

“No, I suppose not,” Sherlock replied quietly, tucking the watch back into the pocket of Arthur’s waistcoat.

* * *

The Doctor put the key of the TARDIS into the lock and swung open the door, stepping inside with Rose and John and Sherlock just behind him.

“Is it always like this?” John asked as the Doctor started to pull leavers and jab at buttons.

“Like what?”

“Well, almost getting killed by bloody great spider things!”

“Yes. Well, they’re not always spiders.”

“And... do lots of people die when you’re around?”

The Doctor said nothing. He just looked back at his controls and continued to press and pull until the TARDIS began to whir and groan. The silence was only broken when Rose emerged from one of the doors with a new clean outfit, her hair brushed and her makeup refreshed. Only then did the Doctor smile again.

Sherlock came up behind John and stood beside him. They watched as Rose and the Doctor joked and laughed, prodding each other playfully, almost unaware of the presence of Sherlock and John.

“Where are we going now?” Sherlock asked, but he was completely ignored by the Doctor and Rose. He cleared his throat. “Doctor, where are we going to now?” he repeated, slightly annoyed now.

The Doctor finally noticed him and grinned. “No idea! Let’s just see where we end up, eh?” He pulled and leaver and the TARDIS began to spark.

_“Allons-y!”_


	5. TARDIS Life // Interlude 1

Gradually, Sherlock and John were becoming more accustomed to living in the TARDIS. It wasn’t as cosy as their flat in Baker Street and in Mrs Hudson’s absence they had to make their own tea. But it was incredible. The TARDIS was so big, with so many different rooms and corridors to explore, filled with strange gizmos and gadgets, their purposes unknown, even to the Doctor. It was a bizarre that everything could fit inside a tiny blue box. To say that the technology of the place intrigued Sherlock would be an understatement.  

The four of them had bonded well, especially after their first adventure together. The Doctor and Sherlock were equally fascinated by one another, leading to long, intellectual conversations that John and Rose tried their hardest to stay out of. John found the young blonde girl to be a very good friend indeed, always friendly and always smiling, funny and witty and optimistic. Perhaps the best part about their friendship was that they both knew that that is all it would be – a great friendship. John knew he was much too old for her and he saw the way she looked at the Doctor and the way he looked at her. It was as if they both just _knew_ – they didn’t have to say it even aloud. They said it with every touch and every glance and every smile. And it was quite beautiful, he thought.


	6. The Dystopian Jungle // Adventure 2 // Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The TARDIS lands in a time which should a be a golden era for humanity. But when they arrive, it appears that something has gone terribly wrong, leading to the slow destruction of all life on earth. Can the Doctor, Rose, Sherlock and John save the planet , despite becoming separated?

Everything came to a sudden stop. The floor stopped shaking and the travellers could loosen their grip on whatever it was that they had been clinging onto. Bumpy landings were now expected by both Sherlock and John.

Once steady on her feet, Rose wandered over to the Doctor, giving him a quick tap on the arm. “Where are we then?”

“The year 4034! Technology at its best, humanity thriving...” he explained as he strode over to the door, pulling it open excitedly. He stopped in his tracks. The others came up behind him, looking over his shoulders at the world outside.

“Doctor? Are you _sure_ it’s the year 4034?” Rose asked hesitantly. The sight before them was not one of a thriving world. Quite the opposite was true. They appeared to be in a jungle of sorts, with flames licking the trees and bushes all around them. Explosions could be heard far in the distance and there was shouting and screaming and crying coming from every direction.

A figure ran out in front of them but halted suddenly at the sight of the blue box. “They’re coming! Save yourselves!” he yelled, his eyes manic with fear. He was wearing just a pair of shredded and dirty shorts, the rest of his body covered in decorative markings and mud. He let out an ear-shattering screech before racing of into the trees.

“Hold on!” the Doctor called, leaning out of the TARDIS to look around. But he was gone.

“Doctor, I think we should leave...” Rose suggested quietly, pulling on the Doctor’s sleeve. “It’s dangerous here.”

The Doctor was just about to agree with her when another person came staggering into view: a woman, with long, ratty hair, clutching a small bundle to her chest. A baby. She blinked at them with her tired, burnt out eyes, before collapsing in a small heap on the ground. John, following his immediate instincts as a doctor, pushed past his friends to rush to her. He felt her hand for a pulse, which he found, but it was beginning to fade.

The others pleaded for him to return to the TARDIS. “She’s dying! We can’t just leave her!” he called back to them, continuing to quickly examine her for any sign of injury or sickness. The baby was screaming.

Out of nowhere, men armed with spears and bows sprung out at them, forming a circle around the TARDIS. Like the man before, they were almost entirely naked and their faces and body were painted. Their weapons were fixed on John who was still crouching beside the woman.

“Connected! Are you the Connected?” one man growled threateningly, his spear close to John’s face. John raised both his hands.

“I... don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just trying to help her, I swear!” he protested, “I’m a doctor!”

The man eyed him suspiciously. “You are a doctor of medicine?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

With a nod, the man that had spoken clicked his fingers at one of the other spear bearers and pointed at John.

“We can take him captive. The others we can kill,” he said, glancing over at the others still standing in the doorway of the TARDIS. At that, the Doctor stepped out with his hands raised. “I’m a doctor as well. And those two,” he gestured at Rose and Sherlock, “they’re... scientists! Best in the world, absolute geniuses they are.”

After a moment, the man barked at the others, “take them all prisoner! We can use their skills to our advantage!” The four of them had their hands bound together by rope and were gagged. One of the spearmen grabbed Rose by the hair and forced her to walk forward while another pressed his weapon into Sherlock’s back, ordering him to follow Rose and her captor. John and the Doctor were led off in the opposite direction, along with the head spearman and several of the others, one of whom carried the body of the now deceased woman, her screaming child in the arms of another.

John and the Doctor turned their heads to catch a final glimpse of their friends before they vanished deeper into the jungle.


	7. Blank Eyes // Adventure 2 // Part 2

The Doctor and John trudged through miles of thick jungle, occasionally being jabbed with a spear to quicken their pace, before they eventually arrived at a run-down metal shelter which looked as if it had been built entirely from scrap. Inside, the scene was chaos. Hundreds of people were packed inside, some standing, huddled together in corners and against walls, and some lying on beds and on the floor. The heat was unbearable, especially for John and the Doctor in their coats.

“These men claim to be doctors!” the head spearman called out and promptly a man appeared before them. He had white circles painted around his eyes and a large red cross on his chest.

“This man is Dr. Moor, chief healer of this hospital,” the spearman explained. John stared around the room in disbelief. How could this place be a _hospital_?

“Thank you, General Ray. You may leave these men to me,” Dr. Moor replied, shaking the spearman by the hand. General Ray and his men untied John and the Doctor and then headed back into the jungle.

Doctor Moor turned to the Doctor and John. “You are both doctors, correct?”

They nodded. Dr Moor lowered his voice and leaned in closer to them. “Now, what do you know of the Connected?”

John quickly glanced at the Doctor and was disappointed at his blank expression. “Nothing,” the Doctor said, “we’re not from around here. Can you tell us what is going on?”

Before Dr. Moor could speak, a shriek rang out from the other side of the hospital. It came from a woman with markings that matched those of Doctor Moor. She was standing beside a bed, a small torch in her hand. “Connected! We have a Connected here!”

Dr. Moor turned on his heel and raced to her and the patient lying in the bed. The Doctor and John followed him, as did several others. They all crowded around the bed, trying to catch a glimpse of the man lying in it. The woman handed Dr. Moor the torch and he began to examine the man’s eyes. The crowd gasped as they saw what was beneath his closed eyelids. Blank eyes. No iris, no pupil. Nothing.

A group of men and women painted with the large red cross ushered the crowd away, commanding them to back off. Dr. Moor was provided with a pair of white gloves and he continued to inspect the man’s eyes and the skin on his forehead, which they could see was starting to turn black.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to step away,” a woman instructed the Doctor and John, who were still standing close to the bed.

“But we’re doctors,” the Doctor protested, reaching into his pocket, “look.”

He flashed his psychic paper at her and after a moment to read, the woman nodded and allowed them to step closer to Dr. Moor.

The Doctor stepped forward, bending down beside Dr. Moor. “What is this?”

Dr. Moor released a deep sigh. “We call them the Connected. This hospital was built as both a refuge for those trying to escape them and as a place to cure the ones in the early stages.”

“So it’s a disease?” John asked, kneeling down next to the two doctors.

Dr. Moor shook his head, “not a disease exactly. It’s more like...” he opened up the eyelids of the man again, “a trance. They’re all in a trance.”

“But what started it? Where did it come from?” John persisted, unsure of what Dr. Moor was implying by the word ‘trance’.

“Many years ago, there was a system launched that appeared to change the world for the better. Everyone used it and it appeared to enhance life. People could be connected to one another without even needing to be in the same country. It changed the way humans led their lives. And for a long time, everything was fine. Then, people started to become obsessed with it. It gripped their lives and then it consumed them. The downfall of the human race...”

Dr Moor turned to them, his face grave.

“ _The Internet_.”


	8. Unnerving Eyes // Adventure 2 // Part 3

Their party came to a halt. Sherlock’s eyes darted around, inspecting their surroundings. The jungle was much darker here, the trees extending out their branches to form a thick canopy above them, blocking out much of the light.

“Quiet!” one of the spearmen commanded, speaking in undertones. He gestured for them to lower themselves, while he stayed standing, surveying the area.

They heard a rustling somewhere nearby. The snap of a twig. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, came the ambush. Men and women, in dirty, ragged clothing leapt out at them, swiping at them with their finger nails, which were shaped like claws. They were in a frenzy –biting and scratching the guards, who attempted to attack them with their spears. It was much more difficult for Sherlock and Rose to fight them off, as their hands were still bound together. Sherlock, thinking logically as he always did, held up the ropes as a claw came to swipe at him. The rope was severed and he quickly moved to untie Rose.

He grabbed her by the wrist and they began to run. Several clawed savages began to pursue them. One of them grabbed Sherlock by the coat and forced him to the ground. Sherlock tried to kick the person off him but it was no good. They were on top of him now, their hand raised and ready to swipe. That’s when he saw the eyes; white, unnerving eyes, like no eyes he had seen before. He shut his own, waiting for the savage to slit his throat. But, suddenly, the person let out a wild screech of pain and fell over, dead, beside Sherlock. Rose was standing above him, a spear in her hand. One of the spearmen that had been accompanying them stood by her side.

“We got the others,” she said breathlessly, holding out her free hand to haul Sherlock up. “This is Eru, he’s going to help us,” she gestured towards the spearman, who nodded in acknowledgment. He appeared to be the only one who had followed them.

“I can get you as far as the hospital, Miss Tyler. The research centre, where you were destined to go, is too far away and I imagine more of the Connected have moved in on that side. I shall do my very best to protect you,” Eru proclaimed, scraping a bow.

He took a moment to work out their position before moving off, with Rose and Sherlock following just behind him.

“What was wrong with those people? The ones back there...” Rose asked, carefully stepping over a tree root that snaked across their path.

“We call them the Connected. It’s a difficult state to describe – what we know of it is that it was originally caused by the Internet –” Eru began but Rose cut him off.

“Did you say the Internet?”

“That’s right, Miss Tyler. We believe that somebody – we don’t know who – installed something in the system that could wipe people’s minds, take all their memory and then control them remotely.”

“Sounds like a computer virus or something,” Rose commented, “but, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you out here, in the middle of nowhere?”

Eru turned to her. “They’ve taken over the rest of the planet. Everywhere except here.  Well, maybe that won’t be the case for much longer,” he frowned.

Eru was young, but with tired, shadowed eyes which were the gateway to a weary and beaten soul. He carried himself like a soldier and his body was that of a man, but his eyes showed nothing but a child who was lost long ago.

“My wife,” he sighed sadly, “died as we escaped from our home country. I watched as those creatures savage her to death.  My daughter is all I have left of her and I hardly get to see her anymore. My life is dedicated to protecting the people here.”

Rose put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “You have a daughter?”

He smiled warmly. “Yes, she’s five years old now. And she’s so beautiful. She lives in the hospital, with the other children.”

“Well, we better go and find her,” Rose beamed, “lead the way.”


End file.
